http://www.nypost.com/seven/11212008/sports/knicks/walsh_cuts_a_deal_for_an_old_favorite_139971.htm


WALSH CUTS A DEAL FOR AN OLD FAVORITE

HARR'S THE DEAL: Knicks sources said the team will acquire disgruntled Warriors forward Al Harrington today.


Posted: 2:44 am
November 21, 2008

Donnie Walsh is set to pull the trigger on his first substantive move as KnicksNew York Knicks president, The New York Post has learned.

Knicks sources said a deal for Al Harrington was to go through late yesterday, but was delayed until today. A league conference call is scheduled for this morning that would bring the disgruntled Warriors forward to the Knicks, presumably for Malik RoseMalik Rose .

A product of St. Patrick's in Elizabeth, N.J., Harrington has played in just five games this season. He was grounded by coach Don Nelson soon after stating publicly he wanted to be traded.

They failed to hit it off almost immediately after the Pacers sent him to Golden State along with Stephen Jackson in a multi-player trade (Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy went to Indiana) on Jan. 16, 2007. Once their conflict became news (Harrington felt Nelson cramped his style) Al got sent to a time out chair - shortly after he complained of back problems and underwent a MRI.

At that point Walsh intensified his effort to acquire the devalued forward, who asked to be traded in June. The Knicks reached out to executive VP of basketball operations Chris Mullin on several occasions, but were rebuffed for lack of equal compensation. The open conflict made it much easier to make a deal.

The move will reunite Walsh with Harrington, whom the Pacers president drafted out of high school (No. 25) in 1998.

In 10 seasons, he has averaged 13.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, including a career-best 18.6 ppg for Atlanta in 2005-06. Harrington was traded to the Hawks in '04 for Jackson. Walsh reclaimed Harrington in the summer of '06 for a first round pick.

Harrington has two years left on his deal--currently $9.3 million with $10M guaranteed on tap in 2009-10. Rose, attractive to the Warriors because of his expiring contract, is set to make $7.64 million this year. The deal can be made one-for-one because their salaries are within 25 percent (plus 100G) of each other.

Until now, the only other trades Walsh made were moving Renaldo BalkmanRenaldo Balkman to Denver for two fringe players who the Knicks promptly cut, and acquiring Patrick Ewing Jr. from Houston for the draft rights to Frederic Weis.

There is a topic on this directly underneath you but I sure hope it is not for Malik.

Posted by GKFv2:

There is a topic on this directly underneath you but I sure hope it is not for Malik.

Yes, but that thread has it entirely wrong, and I thought it best to start a new one with the right(reported) info at least.

Posted by GKFv2:

I'm not taking the bait. Nice try Isiah. You almost got be to go off Eny-style on your ass. You're probably taking more of those sleeping pills again.

You're an interesting character, you know that GKF? Your defense mechanisms intrigue me. You do know that Isiah Thomas is just one person and its unrealistic to call EVERYONE Isiah Thomas, what with him being one person and all, right?

Still, its important for everyone to have a mindset in which they feel comfortable, and if yours is in a universe entirely populated by Isiah Thomas' far be it from me to recall you to reality. Carry on please.

Posted by GKFv2:

Fair enough firefly. I'll tell you why I said what I said.

How else can I judge you when you compare Crawford to Brewer (who is the best defender in the NBA compared to Crawford), Boozer to Zach, Korver to Q, and the list goes on. Michael Redd is going to get that team to the ECF? What? Huh? That is Isiah Thomas thinking.

Al Harrington is Jamal Crawford at SF/PF. He is nothing special and doesn't make the team that much better than it already is. Actually, adding Harrington to a team filled with guys who need shots like Crawford and Zach is a terrible idea. That is why I endorse Crawford for Al both for the 2010 plan and for the betterment of the team.

You may call what you said ass-hanging but I call it Isiah Thomasing a team that has been through this already for years. It's time to forget the "starphuck" and get under the cap. We are nowhere near being an elite team.

I appreciate you explaining yourself.

For clarification, I was not comparing any of those players to each other. It would take a bigger fool then even me to compare Deron to Duhon, Wilson Chandler to one of the elite defensive players in the league in AK47, Okur to Harrington and even Brevin Knight to Nate when its obvious that one is much better then the other.

My point was that their players and our players play in very similar way and maybe our guys could mesh and accomplish things just like the Jazz team has.
Brewer is a hit or miss type player who will be hot one night and awful the next......just like Crawford.
Kirilenko is a do-it-all type player who can hit the 3, handle the ball, crash the boards and intimidate in the paint......just like Chandler.
Boozer is a hard-working PF who racks up boards by the dozen and isnt afraid to get banged underneath.....just like Zach (although that one is a bit of a stretch as Zach also shoots 3's)
Memo is a soft pansy at center who likes to hang out around the 3 point line.... just like Harrington
Korver is a 3 shooting sniper with limited athleticism.....just like Q
Millsap.....Lee I dont even need to explain that, they are basically the same player
Knight is a little man off the bench who can run the team while providing limited scoring in the second team.......just like Nate
Deron Williams...Duhon was there only because they both play starting PG.


As to the Michael Redd ass-hang. Redd coming in would send Crawford to the bench (or Milwaukee). It would give us a reliable scoring option every night and someone to dominate game late on in ways that Crawford has been unable to do this year. We are looking very solid this year`in the paint, and our downfall has come because we go cold and shrivel up at the end of games. Redd would correct that, which is why I believe he could be a big piece in the Knicks going deep.

Better?


EDIT: and regarding 2010, we would still need to dump Curry, Crawford, Jeffries, Lee and Nate to be under the cap then and if we dump those guys we are 30 mill below the projected cap, leaving plenty of room to keep Redd, Zach and a major free agent. You wouldnt want to see Redd, Zach and LeBron/Bosh/Wade/Melo together? I would.

[Edited by - firefly on 11-21-2008 06:38 AM]

Posted by GKFv2:

Redd makes large amounts of money and effectively ends the 2010 plan. Would you want to throw away a chance to sign top of the line free agents in less than 2 years for Michael Redd?

[Edited by - gkfv2 on 11-21-2008 06:36 AM]

See my edit above and no, I wouldnt, but I would love to try and do both.

[Edited by - firefly on 11-21-2008 06:40 AM]

After rechecking on http://hoopshype.com/salaries/new_york.htm, I note we would probably be more like 40 mill below the cap, even including rookies if we dump all those players (Craw, Jeffries, Curry, Lee and Nate). And if you keep Lee and Nate at a starting deal of 7 mill each, we are still 26 mill below the projected cap.

I'm not a fan of Harrington, but I'm even less of a fan of Rose. Since Harrington's contract only goes two more years, it doesn't hurt - maybe helps a little.

Harrington has talent, which is more than what Rose had left, but really how does this trade help us? While I think Harrington has the ability to be a solid defender, he has never really emphasized that aspect of his game. He is going to need shots and I question whether he can really play center. So Chandler may get fewer minutes, which I see as a real negative. This seems awfully like an IT move. Just obtain talent and don't worry about the consequences. I guess it is hard to argue with the deal since we gave up virtually nothing for a guy who can play, but I doubt this is going to improve the team significantly.

I would rather see Harrington play SG than Crawford

Posted by GKFv2:

I'm not taking the bait. Nice try Isiah. You almost got be to go off Eny-style on your ass. You're probably taking more of those sleeping pills again.

GKFv2, if you can't interact with people here in a mature way you will not be allowed to post here. Ask yourself why multiple people keep having issues with you. Please stick to discussing basketball and you will be just fine.